Alabama

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 review

In Activision's Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a clash of comic book titans occurs after a series of events leads to an unfortunate division in the Marvel world. Heroes fight heroes and friends become enemies in this game based on the Marvel "Civil War" comic book series.

Platforms: Reviewed on Xbox 360. Available for all consoles and handhelds.

Hits: Enjoyable gameplay, well put-together fighting mechanics, and role-playing game ability-upgrade elements make this a game worth playing with friends. The "double-team" attacks that have been added will make it all the more necessary for friends' involvement for this game to perform to its fullest. You will have hours of fun playing your favorite hero. The graphics are up to par, the story is great, and it has a cameo in it by Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee himself. What more could you want?

Misses: Ultimate Alliance's Achilles' heel lies in its camera. The camera is shot in a "God-camera" perspective, meaning that the camera is above the characters while you control them. At times the camera will become so riddled with explosions and AI characters that you will have incredible difficulty finding your guy, who is usually about an inch tall on the screen, among the mob of tiny feuding figures. This problem can lead to a lot of trouble with gameplay, especially when playing with other people.

View full sizeOooooh, that guy about to hit Iron Man is gonna be in trouble. Activision

Recommendation: Ultimate Alliance 2 has a clean bill of health when it comes to enjoyability and receives a bonus when friends are included in the mix. Comic book geeks, RPG gamers, and fans of the Baldur's Gate franchise of the olden days of gaming will find much to love about this game, presuming that you can spot your character on screen.

Grade: B+

Suzanne CrowsonMatthew Crowson calmly contemplates his video game strategy.Apprentice gamer reviewer Matthew Crowson attends Gardendale High School, and he is a natural Iron Man. Write to him care of bcrowson@bhamnews.com

View full sizeRemember when superheroes sat down and talked reasonably about their issues with each other? Wait, they never did that. Thank goodness. Activision

View full size"My movie is way better than yours!""Is not!""Is so!"Activision